


Sonic Underground: Equestria Girls: Magical Movie Night

by GalacticDefender4679



Series: Sonic Underground: Equestria Girls [5]
Category: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Magic, Music, Other, Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 17:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 16,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19067296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticDefender4679/pseuds/GalacticDefender4679
Summary: Compilation of continuing stories after the Legend of Everfree.





	1. What's the Plan?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Book 1: Dance Magic
> 
> When Rarity and Silver find out about a music video competition, they're eager to convince their friends at Canterlot High to enter the contest. The team soon learns that Crystal Prep Academy are also interested in participating in the contest. The students at CPA have much more resources and are better dancers! Will they be able to pull together and make a winning music video?

It had been a while since the team had gotten back from Camp Everfree, and as usual, Pinkie Pie was finding a way to make anything fun, including raising funds to repair the camp with a car wash.

“To the right, to the right,” she said in rhythm. “To the left, to the left. Now up. Now up. Bring it down. Spin it around. Wash that car like you mean it. Come on!” Sunset and Shadow ran around the car with sponges in rhythm with her cleaning off the truck

Then Fluttershy shot the hose at it, washing off the suds, giving the truck they were cleaning that “fresh off the lot” look. Then Rarity pulled out a blow dryer and shot it, drying the car to prepare it for the polish. Pinkie and Sonic jumped on and started.

“Whoo!” yelled Sonic as he spun on the hood with his side covered in polishing bristles. “Best! Idea! Ever!” Then they jumped off and the truck shone in the afternoon sun. “There ya go, Big Mac. One clean truck. That’ll be ten bucks.” Applejack’s brother handed him the cash and drove away.

“Sweet!” said Rainbow. “More cash to add to the stash!”

“Whoo-hoo!” said Pinkie excitedly. Rarity wiped her brow and sighed, tired.

“How about a little break?” she suggested. “All this sunshine and suds are doing a number on my hair.”

“Yeah, I guess I could use a drink,” said Silver. “It’s on me. Who’s in?” The others gave tired agreements and they all left. Soon enough, Silver returned with a cooler full of soda and everyone had a drink.

“Hey. Anybody seen Twilight lately?” asked Rainbow.

“I’m here,” she said walking up wearing a new outfit. She was wearing a purple skirt with her symbol on it, a few faint stars on it, a light blue shirt with a white collar, a rose-colored bow-tie and tank top, light blue socks and purple shoes. She was also holding the team’s money box. “I was just going over the numbers again.”

“So?” asked Tails. “What’s the verdict?”

“Have we raised enough to make all the repairs to Camp Everfree?” asked Sunset.

“We’ve only raised half,” she replied, looking in the box. “I counted the money four times just to be sure, and counting those rings Sonic sunk in, we still don’t have enough.” Everyone groaned.

“Well, I’d give you more, but I don’t have many left, and I kinda need them for myself too,” said Sonic, looking in his ring sack.

“It’s alright,” said Applejack. “We can just wash more cars. There’s gotta be some we missed.”

“Hate to break it to ya, AJ, but you’re wrong,” said Knuckles. And he was right; aside from their tools, the parking lot was completely empty. Unless you count the tumbleweeds that blew past, but I digress.

“I, uh, think we’re gonna have to come up with a new plan,” said Sunset.

“But we’re running out of time,” said Rainbow. “The camp fundraising deadline is next week, and Pinkie Pie and Manic have already hosted a bake sale…”

“That didn’t really go all that well,” said Sonia, as Pinkie pulled a cookie out of her hair and ate it.

“Twilight, Tails, and Fluttershy had that doggy day-care…” continued Rainbow.

“Which, while cute, didn’t really end up all that well, financially speaking,” said Tails.

“And Sunset, Shadow, Sonic and I planned this car wash,” finished Rainbow.

“No problemo, guys,” said Silver, standing next to Rarity. “It’s our turn to come up with a plan, and we’ve already got something amazing in mind. It’s bound to be more profitable than all our other plans combined. The piece de resistance, if you will.”

“Wee-woo!” said Knuckles. “Now we’re talkin’! So what’s the plan?”

“Is it at all clothing related?” asked Sonic, getting straight to the point.

“It may or may not be,” said Rarity. “Meet us in the music room later this afternoon, and we will explain everything.”

“We’ll be there,” said Rainbow as they all left. But then Spike walked up next to them and looked up at Silver.

“You got nothing, huh?” he asked.

“Nothing at all,” said Silver, before he realized something. “How did you know?!”


	2. Step into the Music

Later that day, Silver and Rarity were at the mall, trying to come up with a plan to give the others.

“Ooh rats,” said Rarity upset. “Three hours and still no ideas for a lucrative last-minute fundraiser.”

“Well, we’d better come up with something soon or Sonic’s gonna have my head,” said Silver. “Y’know, it’s weird. Doesn’t window shopping inspire you?”

“Usually, but right now, I’m drawing a complete blank,” she said. Just then, Silver heard something on the TV nearby.

“Hey, check this out,” he said pointing at it.

“Are you a musician?” asked the voice-over. “Do you and your friends love to dance?”

“Yes?” said Rarity, questioning it.

“Are you unique? Cool? Stylish?” asked the voice-over.

“Yes to everything you just said,” said Silver.

“Do you want to win a cash prize?” asked the voice-over.

“Oh, heck yes!” said Silver.

“Then enter the Canterlot Mall ‘Chance to Prance’ competition,” said the voice-over. “All you need is a music video of your own original song and dance, then you could be prancing your way to first prize. Sign up now at the booth near the Aunt Orange Smoothie kiosk.” Silver looked at Rarity with a smile on his face.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked. Rarity just responded by running for the booth. “Guess that’s a yes!” he said running after her. But then Rarity was stopped by a bright red sparkling dress in a shop window.

“Oh, we’re certain to win!” she said and ran off.

“Oh,” said Silver running after her. “For a second there, I thought you were gonna buy that.”

“Maybe later,” said Rarity as they arrived at the booth. Quickly she wrote Rainbooms on the card Then Silver saw someone familiar.

“Uh Rarity, don’t look now, but I think we’ve got company,” he said. It was the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts from the Friendship Games.

“Rarity?” said Sour Sweet. “What a nice surprise! Not.”

“Sour Sweet! Sunny Flare!” said Rarity. “Why, it’s been ages.”

“It’s only been a few months since the Friendship Games,” said Sugarcoat.

“Sheesh. Does anyone else here not think her name is a misnomer?” asked Silver.

“Is that all?” asked Rarity. “Wow. So, how is everything over at Crystal Prep Academy?”

“Oh, things at CPA have never been better since Principal Cadence took over,” said Sunny.

“What happened to Cinch?” asked Silver.

“She went to the school board about the Friendship Games and got fired,” said Lemon Zest. “After that, she got thrown in an asylum.”

“God, Sonic warned her that would happen. What an idiot,” said Silver.

“Yeah, she’s going to let us have the Spring dance on a yacht,” said Sour. “If we raise the money.” Silver whistled in impressment.

“Sounds awesome. Well, good luck with the money-raising,” he said.

“Are you signing up for the ‘Chance to Prance’ contest too?” asked Lemon.

“Just finished,” said Silver, sliding their note into the box. “Why? Are you signing up too?”

“We definitely aren’t here because we like standing in lines,” said Sugarcoat.

“Seriously, your name is a misnomer,” said Silver. “Does no-one else find that even the least bit weird?”

“I assume you already have a video concept figured out?” asked Sour. “The competition’s going to be pretty fierce.”

“Matter of fact, yes,” said Rarity. “It came to me as soon as I saw that gorgeous red wrap-around ensemble on the way over here.” Silver thought he saw Sour’s eye twitch, but he wasn’t sure.

“Oh. Tell me more…” she said with a certain tone of voice Silver was extremely suspicious about.

“Oh. Well, each member of the Rainbooms is going to dance in a different style,” she said. “Like flamenco, hip-hop or street ballet. And we’ll wear costumes to match each genre. Designed by yours truly, of course.” Then she gave a little proud giggle.

“That sounds like a very good concept,” said Sugarcoat.

“Yeah, that’s actually a pretty good idea,” said Silver. He saw a weird look on Sour’s face, but he was still confused.

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess it’s okay. If you’re going for way too over-the-top.”

“I’m a telekinetic hedgehog from two hundred years in the future who fights robots and giant fire demons for a living,” said Silver bluntly. “What do you think about that?”

“Point taken,” said Sour.

“Thanks,” said Rarity. “So what’s your concept?”

“Nothing,” said Sugarcoat.

“Pardon?” asked Silver.

“We don’t have one yet,” she clarified.

“What she means is…” said Sour. “It’s a surprise. But it’s amazing. So original.”

“Oh, well, I can’t wait to see it,” said Rarity as she pulled Silver away. “Good luck!”

“You too!” said Sour, smirking mischievously.


	3. Down to Business

Back at school, Rarity and Silver had just finished explaining the plan to the others.

“See guys? What’d we tell ya? It’s a great idea. We win this contest, we’re walking away with tons of cash for the camp,” said Silver. “All we have to do is write up some lyrics for the new song, and we’ll choreograph some dance moves. Once that’s done, badda-bing, badda-boom, the cash prize and the camp is saved.”

“You make it sound easy as pie,” said Applejack.

“That’s because it is,” said Rarity. “The girls at Crystal Prep even agree. They’re making a video too.” Then a loud record scratch sound effect sounded in the room.

“They are?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, why? Is that a problem?” asked Silver.

“Oh. No, it’s not,” said Twilight, scratching the back of her neck. “Just haven’t heard much about my old school since I left, I guess.”

“Well, if you ask me,” said Spike. “Crystal Prep has got nothin’ on CHS. I love it here!” Then Fluttershy gave him a little scratch under the chin making his voice tremble. “See what I mean?”

“All right guys, now before we get started with the music itself,” said Silver. “There’s just one small little thing we forgot to mention. Tiny, really. Miniscule.”

“Oh God, this can’t be good,” said Sonic quietly.

“What’s that?” asked Sunset.

“Shouldn’t have asked,” muttered Shadow. Rarity was so nervous, she looked like she was about to explode, but the message got out.

“I would need to use our fundraiser money to buy costume materials for the video,” she said quickly. She and Silver looked at the others who were curious.

“I knew this was gonna be clothing related somehow,” said Sonic.

“How much is the grand prize worth?” asked Sonia.

“More than twice what we need to fix up the camp,” said Silver.

“Ha! Then of course you can use the money for costumes!” said Rainbow.

“Ah, what the hell,” said Knuckles. “Why not?” Then he picked up the money box. “Think fast.” Quickly, he threw it at Silver who caught it one-handed.

“Sweet!” said Rainbow. Pinkie grabbed Rarity and Silver in a hug, as Twilight went over some numbers on a printing calculator.

“According to my calculations,” she said. “If we lend Rarity the funds we’ve already raised, we stand to gain four times as much money as we have now.” Everyone cheered at that idea. “But if we lose the video contest, we’ll be completely back to square one at zero dollars. Anyone else think this is an awfully risky endeavor?” She looked around at the sea of fearful and worried faces and changed her mind. “I mean, um, me neither.”

“Hey, high risk, high reward, right?” asked Silver.

“All right everyone,” said Rarity. “Who’s ready to shoot our winning dance music video?” Everyone yelled and cheered in excitement as Silver handed Rarity the cash box. She gave a giddy chuckle. “Looks like we have some fabric shopping to do.”


	4. Shooting

Soon everyone was in the gym with their costumes on.

“Okay guys, one more time from the top,” said Sonic.

“Alright Rainbow, whatever you do, don’t miss your cue, okay?” asked Tails. “It’s when Fluttershy does the triple pirouette, got it?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said.

“Alright then,” said Sonic. “Lights are set. Camera?”

“Rolling,” said the school photographer, Photo Finish.

“Music?” asked Sonic.

“All set,” called Vinyl, moving the needle.

“And… Action!” said Rarity. Sunset and Fluttershy danced for a bit, but once she started the triple pirouette, she kicked Sunset in the back and Rainbow came in too soon, getting everyone annoyed.

“Cut, cut, cut!” shouted Sonic. Vinyl moved the needle, confusing Rainbow.

“Hey, what happened to the music?” she asked. Rarity looked annoyed, but she got over it.

“Fluttershy, it’s supposed to be a triple pirouette,” she said, getting up. Spike had fallen asleep at her feet and he woke up and stretched when Rarity moved.

“I know, it’s just that…” she spluttered. “I- I-I don’t think I can do one of those.”

“Darling, of course you can, Darling,” said Rarity. “I believe in you.”

“How ‘bout you try jazz paws instead?” said Spike, wiggling his front paws.

“As much as I would love to see that, I don’t think it fits her style,” said Silver.

“Yeah,” said Sunset, fixing her outfit. “Thanks, Spike, but all these moves are pretty hard.” Rarity groaned in angst.

“I know, but if we want to win, we have to bring our A-game,” she said.

“Crystal Prep certainly will,” said Twilight. “They’re excellent dancers. And you know how they _love_ to compete.”

“Look people, how bout we just forget about the other teams and get back to dancing?” said Knuckles.

“Great idea, Knuckles,” said Pinkie, trying a moon-walk. “It’s really fun. I haven’t stopped this whole time.”

“Okay, stop, stop, stop-stop-stop,” said Sonic, stopping her. “You’re trying too hard.” Then he pulled out a fedora and an mp3 player. “Try more… like this.” Then he turned on his player to the middle of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, put the fedora on his head, and moon-walked right out the door. Everyone looked at him as he zipped back in with the music off. “Like that.”

“Alright look, let’s just take it from Rainbow’s entrance,” said Silver, jumping off the stage. Sonic and the others quickly followed and took their positions. Rarity sighed as she took her seat, but got back to it.

“And… Action!” she shouted. They all got back to dancing but then Sunset’s heel got caught on Rainbow’s jacket and tore it.

“Cut,” Sonic said to Photo, who quickly stopped recording. Rarity zipped up looking at the tear in fear.

“This is a disaster!” she said.

“Oy,” said Shadow.

“Whoops,” said Sunset. “Sorry Rarity.”

“Can you fix it?” asked Sonic.

“Well, I can,” she said, taking the jacket. “But I’ll have to run to the fabric store before it closes.” Quickly she left. “Keep practicing while I’m gone!” she yelled. Everyone rolled their eyes and shrugged at her behavior.


	5. Thieves!

Back at the mall, Rarity had just left the fabric store with a bag of materials.

“Oh, thank goodness I budgeted for back-up fabric,” she said. Then she saw Silver. “Silver? Darling, what are you doing here?”

“That’s not important,” he said. “You’re gonna wanna see this.” She looked and there were the Shadowbolts doing several different kinds of dancing, and way better than the others did. Rarity rubbed her eyes and looked again.

“Is that a disco-inspired look?” she asked. “And a street ballet tutu?”

“I think it is,” said Silver. “They stole our plan!” Quickly, they rushed back to Rarity’s house and started sewing until the others burst in.

“We’re heeerrreee!” said Pinkie hanging from the top of the door.

“We got your text,” said Twilight. “You said it was an emergency?”

“Is everything alright, guys?” asked Knuckles.

“Well, since you asked,” said Rarity, getting on her couch and brushing off her lap. “The answer is no!” Then she started bawling her eyes out.

“Oh no,” said Fluttershy. “What happened?”

“Those Shadowbolt girls stole our video concept,” said Silver. “We saw them filming over at the mall. They copied Rarity’s design ideas and everything.”

“So of course, they looked absolutely fabulous,” said Rarity, before she got back to crying. “But the worst part is that they’re all incredible dancers!”

“Major bummer in the summer,” said Pinkie, passing her a tissue box. “Tissue for your issue?” Rarity took it and wiped her running mascara away before she blew her nose.

“Everyone is counting on us,” she said. “On the video to win us the prize money for the camp.”

“Oh, how could I have been so blind?” said Silver, face-palming. “Of course they stole the concept. We practically served it to them on a silver platter, and I didn’t even realize it. And I’m psychic!”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” said Sonic. “It’ll take more than one round of the Friendship Games for the Shadowbolts to learn winning isn’t everything.”

“Eh. Maybe this was all for the best,” said Applejack.

“What do you mean?” asked Silver.

“Well, the concept and costumes were incredible, but our dancing?” asked Knuckles.

“Not so much,” said Sunset. Knuckles and Applejack laughed.

“We could barely get in a two-step before tripping over each other’s boots,” said Applejack. The others joined them in laughing.

“Nonsense!” said Rarity. “You all looked great! Well, maybe not great, but… but… but… but it was getting there! And the point is, we don’t have to _let_ them win! That is our video concept, and I am going straight to Crystal Prep to let them know that they have messed with the wrong girls!” She seethed in anger. “Who’s with me?” Everyone just looked at each other in silence. Rarity realized no one was on board and cleared her throat. “N-n-no, seriously. Who is with me? I have no idea how to get to Crystal Prep.”

“I’ll go,” said Twilight. “Maybe I can try to reason with them. We were classmates once.”

“Keyword; Once,” said Shadow.

“That’s the spirit!” said Rarity grabbing her and dragging her out. “Come on!”

“This isn’t gonna end well,” said Sonic. At Crystal Prep, Twilight and Rarity stuck their heads out from behind a bush. Rarity was wearing a headscarf and designer sunglasses. Quickly, they slipped in the front door and ninjaed their way through the halls.

“Okay,” whispered Rarity. “Where’s the dance studio?”

“There’s a dance studio?” asked Twilight.

“Didn’t you go to this school?” asked Rarity.

“Well, I can show you where the library is,” she replied. Then they heard music.

“Wait. Sh!” said Rarity. “That’s their music.” It was coming from a room down the hall and the door was open. “Bingo.” Quickly, she raced towards it and they saw it was a dance studio. The girls were there practicing as Rarity came in with her mouth hanging open.

“Hey girls!” said Sour. “So what did you think of our routine? Scared yet?”

“Don’t change the subject, Sour Sweet,” said Rarity accusingly.

“You didn’t bring up a subject to begin with,” said Sugarcoat.

“You either!” said Rarity.

“Ooookayyy,” said Sour.

“You know why we’re here,” said Rarity. “You stole my- _our_ music video idea. Now, change your concept or else.”

“Sorry,” said Sour. “But we can’t.” The girls laughed cruelly.

“And why is that?” asked Twilight.

“Because we care about winning,” said Sunny. “Duh.”

“And we will,” said Sour. “Because we’re just about to submit our video.” They laughed again and Rarity was shocked.

“You’re what?” she asked before she started stuttering. “It doesn’t matter. Because we are still doing our video the way we planned.”

“Go ahead,” said Sour. “But there’s just one flaw in your little plan.”

“By the time you submit yours, it’ll just look like _you_ copied _us,_ ” said Sunny.

“Except a worse version,” said Sugarcoat. Rarity was shocked as Lemon turned the music back on and the girls resumed their routine.

Back at school, Rarity was apologizing to the others. “This is all my fault! All that money we raised is spent, and now we have no music video. I should never have convinced you all that we could pull this off in so little time,” she said.

“Are you insane?” asked Sonic. “I’m the fastest thing alive. I could do this myself, blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back. I mean for God’s sake, look at Pinkie Pie. She just built that castle made entirely out of chocolate bars while we were talking.” They all looked and there was a giant chocolate statue that looked suspiciously like Princess Twilight’s castle. Then she ripped part of the wall off and ate it.

“Want some?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m trying to watch my figure,” said Sonia.

“What I want is a new video concept,” said Rarity.

“Eh,” shrugged Pinkie as she took another bite.

“So let’s create one,” said Rainbow.

“Really?” asked Rarity. The others all gave her affirmative remarks.

“I’m sure if we all put our heads together, we’ll come up with something even better than before,” said Sunset.

“Okay, I suppose it’s worth a try,” said Rarity. Then Pinkie zipped over, grabbed everyone and literally put their heads together.

“I think it’s working,” she whispered.

“It is now,” thought Silver in everyone’s minds. “I linked our minds.”

“Yeah, I think I got something,” said Knuckles. “Okay, so we’re in home ec, dressed up like cowpokes, doing some baking, and then a fresh batch of fritters comes out of the oven and everyone’s having a great time.”

“Wait-wait-wait,” said Silver. “So lemme get this straight. We’re in a music video, eating pastries at school. That’s your big idea?”

“Sorry,” said Knuckles. “I guess I’m just kinda hungry.”

“Anyone have another idea?” asked Rarity.

“Oh-oh, I do,” said Rainbow. “So, we’re all in the middle of the jungle, and we’re being chased by henchmen shooting poison arrows at us.”

“Liking it so far,” said Shadow. “Do I get to use my guns?”

“You’re gonna need to, because suddenly, out of nowhere, the shadow of a giant beast appears!” said Rainbow.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute,” said Sonic. “Isn’t this a scene from that new ‘Daring Do’ book?”

“Oh yeah, that’s why it seemed so cool,” said Rainbow. “Never mind. Next?”

“Okay, I’ve got it!” said Pinkie.

“I fear for my sanity,” said Sonic.

“You should,” said Silver.

“Please, do tell,” said Rarity, having just dodged a poison arrow.

“We’ll start out on the moon,” said Pinkie. “And we’ll be wearing really sparkly costumes. No wait, we’ll be in space suits. We’re surrounded by gorgonzola cheese, but then a space doggy walks over. And starts to eat the cheese!

“Okay, hold it! Everyone stop!” said Silver, snapping everyone out of the sleep-like trance they were in. “None of this is ever gonna work!”

“Aw why not?” asked Pinkie.

“Several reasons actually,” said Silver. “One; Tails left his spaceship on Mobius, and until he gets the portal cannon fixed, we can’t go get it. Two; sound can’t travel through space, so it would be ineffective anyway. Three; the cheese would disintegrate in the vacuum of space, floating off into nothingness. Four; if Spike is the space-dog, how is he supposed to breathe in space to eat the cheese? Five; the contest is for **dance music videos** , and none of your ideas thus far included dancing. Guess which one is the most important!”

“But they were pretty funny, huh?” asked Pinkie, giggling. “I liked yours, Rainbow Dash.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” she replied. Then Pinkie started floating by her neck being choked by a red aura. The others looked and saw that Silver’s markings had turned red.

“I swore to myself I’d never use my powers like this again,” he said darkly. “But unless someone comes up with an idea that might actually work, she dies!”

“Jeez Silver! Calm down!” said Sonic, forcing his hand down, sending Pinkie gasping and coughing for breath on the floor.

“There,” said Silver panting. “I believe I have made my point.”

“Are you okay?” asked Fluttershy. Then Silver’s markings flared the color of blood.

“DO I LOOK LIKE I’M OKAY?!?!” he yelled. “The deadline for the contest is tomorrow and we’ve just been STANDING HERE, **SCREWING AROUND!!!!** ” With that, he kicked the door off its hinges and walked away. Everyone looked after him wide-eyed and Rarity cleared her throat.

“Well, uh tensions here appear getting rather heated, and Silver and I clearly need to talk, so I’ll just, uh…” she said. “Yes.” Then she walked away after him.

“One rule of thumb we have on this team;” said Sonic to no one in particular. “Never cross Silver.”


	6. Fixing Things Up

Silver and Rarity were at a café close-by, getting a grip on things. Silver was meditating to calm himself down and Rarity was eating ice cream to try and stop the crying. They had gotten to talk, but after hearing what Silver had to say, Rarity realized he was right. Then they heard some familiar voices talking.

“It’s no use, Sour Sweet,” said a voice who Silver instantly recognized as Sunny Flare. “Why are we even still trying?”

“What the?” said Silver, dropping to the ground from his meditation and looking to see the Shadowbolts over in a booth nearby.

“Because the deadline hasn’t passed yet,” Sour replied. “We can still come up with an original song to replace that Sapphire Shores one we’ve been practicing our choreography with.”

“It’s highly unlikely,” said Sugarcoat.

“Why did we tell Rarity that we already submitted our video?” asked Lemon.

“So that we could still use her concept,” said Sour. “Rarity is creative. She’ll come up with something else. But if we don’t, we have nothing. And imagine what our classmates would say.”

“They’ll say it’s our fault the spring dance had to be held in the boring old auditorium instead of on a yacht like we promised,” said Lemon.

“Exactly,” said Sour.

“Well, what do you know about that?” asked Silver. “They’re just as hopeless as we are.”

“No. They just don’t want to disappoint their classmates,” said Rarity.

“Yeah, but did you hear what they said?” asked Silver. “They stole the song they’ve been using.”

“But the Rainbooms have a band,” said Sugarcoat. “They’ll surely have a killer original song and we don’t.”

“Yet,” said Sour.

“Face it, Sour,” said Sunny. “We’re doomed.” Then Rarity walked up and cleared her throat with Silver hovering next to her.

“Excuse us, girls,” she said.

“Rarity! Silver!” said Sour. “Uh, how long have you been over there?”

“About ten minutes,” replied Silver. “But that’s more than long enough to hear you have no original song.”

“Like I said,” said Sugarcoat. “Doomed.”

“Oh, far from it,” said Silver as he and Rarity slid in with them. “Look, I know our schools haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but Rarity and I think we have an idea that’ll solve both our problems.”

“We’re listening,” said Sour. Back at school, Rarity and Silver had dragged the others back to the gym.

“Okay Silver, what’s this new big plan you two were so excited about?” asked Knuckles.

“Et voila!” said Silver, gesturing to the gym. Everyone gasped when they saw it. Their old set was still there, but now, in front of the stage was a multicolored dance floor surrounded by large masses of crystal. The team was amazed, but then Shadow spoke up.

“Aren’t the Shadowbolts using this video concept now?” he asked.

“Well yeah, but so are we,” said Silver. “Hey girls! You can come out now!” Then the Shadowbolts walked out onto the stage, surprising the others.

“Okay, two things,” said Sonic. “One; WHAT?! Two; THE HELL?!”

“Why are they here?” asked Shadow.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but the Crystal Preppers here helped us realize that competing against one another was getting us nowhere,” said Rarity.

“And Rarity and Silver helped show us that winning was the only thing driving us,” said Lemon. “We didn’t even care if we had to steal to accomplish it.”

“But that’s not who we are,” said Sour. “Anymore.”

“Yeah, that’s real sweet and all, but it still doesn’t answer my question,” said Shadow.

“Well, they’ve offered to help with dance moves,” said Silver. “In exchange, we help them come up with an original song.”

“Combining our talents is the most logical thing to do,” said Sugarcoat.

“We are gonna make one epic music video together,” said Sunny.

“So? What do you guys think?” asked Rarity. “Are you in?” Everyone looked at each other pondering, until Pinkie and Sonic broke the silence.

“Best. Music. Video. Idea! EVER!” said Pinkie.

“I think it’s time to crank this baby up to eleven!” said Sonic. Later, the team was dressed up in costume and ready to shoot.

“We’ll start things out by showing you our song,” said Tails, handing a piece of sheet music to Sunny.

“But this is just about the Rainbooms,” said Sunny. “There’s nothing us in the lyrics.”

“Yet,” said Fluttershy, pulling out a pen. “Wanna help me make some changes?”

“Anyone else want to work on the music?” asked Silver.

“We’ll get to that after I teach you some epic moves, Rarity,” said Sour.

“No-no, music first,” said Rarity.

“Dance first,” said Sour.

“Music first!” said Rarity.

“Dance first!” said Sour.

“Music first!” said Rarity.

“Dance first!” said Sour. Silver quickly blew his coach’s whistle to stop them.

“Whoa there, ladies,” he said. “We keep this up, we’ll be right back to square one!”

“The order is irrelevant,” said Sugarcoat.

“What she said,” said Sonia. The two realized they were right and stopped.

“Oh yeah,” said Rarity and the two laughed nervously before groaning.

“Okay, places people!” said Sonic. “Alright Sunset, on your cue, start us off and we’ll get to the rest.”

“Got it,” she said, getting into position with the others.

“All right, places people, let’s make some magic,” said Sonic, taking his seat behind the camera. “Lights!”

“Lights!” said Silver, hitting the spotlight on the rig above.

“Camera!” said Sonic.

“Rolling,” said Shadow, then Manic ran in front with a clapboard.

“Okay, this is Crystal Rainbooms’ ‘Dance Magic’ music video,” he said. “Take one.” He clapped the board and ran.

“And… Action!” shouted Sonic as Vinyl hit the music.

**(Play “Dance Magic” – Crystal Rainbooms – Original Episode)**

The music played for a minute, but once it hit a point, he counted down from three on his fingers and pointed to Sunset as her cue.

_Sunset: I feel it stirrin’_   
_Deep down inside my soul_   
_The Rhythm’s takin’ hold_   
_And it’s about to roll_

_Twilight: A million sparkles_   
_Falling across the floor_   
_So DJ give it more_   
_It’s what we’re looking for_

_All: Dance the night away_   
_All our friends right by our side_   
_It doesn’t matter what style you bring_   
_We’re about to go on that ride_

_It’s Dance Magic_   
_Once you have it_   
_Let your body move_   
_Step into the music_

_It’s Dance Magic_   
_And it’s electric_   
_Let your body move to the music_

_Pinkie: Doesn’t matter what style you got_   
_Just keep dancin’ on that spot_   
_Friends like you for who you are_   
_Dance queen on the scene. Superstar!_

_Crystal Prep, you’ve got the moves_   
_Rainbooms bringin’ all the grooves_   
_Put ‘em together and make it fit_   
_Crystal Rainbooms. Dance Magic._

_All: Dance the night away_   
_All our friends right by our side_   
_It doesn’t matter what style you bring_   
_We’re about to go on that ride_

_It’s Dance Magic_   
_Once you have it_   
_Let your body move_   
_Step into the music_

_It’s Dance Magic_   
_And it’s electric_   
_Let your body move to the music_

_Crystal Rainbooms got a style that’s all our own_   
_Dancin’ nonstop, body movin’ in the zone_   
_Bring whatever style you got_   
_Cause the party is goin’ on…!_

_It’s Dance Magic_   
_And it’s electric_   
_Let your body move to the music…!_

**(Cut the music)**

The next day, everyone gathered at the mall and just got finished watching their music video on the TV, where it was shone to have won first prize.

“Yee-hoo!” said Applejack triumphantly. “We got enough to make Camp Everfree look just like new!”

“We’re having the spring dance on a yacht!” said Lemon excitedly. The two high-fived and Pinkie grabbed them in a hug.

“Who’s up for a celebratory Aunt Orange smoothie!?” asked Pinkie. Everyone cheered and ran for the kiosk, except Rarity, Silver, and Sour.

Then Rarity gasped. “I have just had the most brilliant idea!” she said. “Maybe Crystal Prep could use an award-winning band to play at their spring dance? It’d be the perfect way to show off your new dance moves.”

“Hey, now there’s an idea,” said Silver.

“That would be amazing,” said Sour. “Of course then we’d have a new dilemma to deal with?”

“And what’s that?” asked Silver.

“Figuring out what we’re all gonna wear,” said Sour.

“Ohhhh….” said Silver. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve already got a few ideas we’d be more than willing to share.”

“Me too!” said Sour as they walked toward the kiosk laughing.


	7. The Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Book 2: Movie Magic
> 
> Sonic, his team, and the Equestria Girls have been specially invited by A.K. Yearling to go on the set of the upcoming Daring Do movie and they are overjoyed. For super-fan Rainbow Dash, watching behind the scenes as her favorite heroine comes to life is a dream come true. But when Caliburn, as well as a rare and important prop from the set, go missing, putting the movie on hold, Rainbow Dash's dream becomes a nightmare and the team must find the items before it's too late.

A thunderstorm rumbled above a volcano surrounded by large tikis as a cloaked figure walked slowly towards the gate in the mountain’s wall. He flipped his hood back to reveal a pale mane with black hair and eyes and a small goatee, dressed like a safari adventurer. He laughed cruelly as the thunder above rumbled.

“It is almost time,” he said, pulling a gold scepter with a red jewel in it out of his cloak. “Once I have all three relics, no one will be able to stop me. And Mareibor will fall. For I am Stalwart Stallion!”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” came Rainbow’s voice.

“Ah cut!” said the director, revealing it was just a movie and the team was behind him.

“Seriously Rainbow?” asked Sonic.

“Sorry,” she said. “But at this point in the story, Stalwart Stallion would be known as ‘Mojo’.” Twilight gave a sour look and waved her finger, signifying she was wrong. “What? You think this guy wants Daring Do fans to call him out for making a mistake like that?”

“Pretty sure you just did,” said Sonic.

“Let’s go again,” said the director. “And this time say ‘Mojo’ instead of Stalwart Stallion, kay?” Rainbow watched intently as they did the scene again. Later, they were walking with the director behind the scenes. Twilight and Rainbow had their pendants from Camp Everfree and Sonic had Caliburn strapped to his back.

“I can’t believe we’re really here,” said Rainbow excitedly.

“I can’t believe you’ve been doing nothing but heckling professional actors since we got here,” said Sonic.

“Thank you so much letting us come, Mr. Zoom,” Twilight said to the director.

“We promise we won’t get in the way,” said Sunset.

“Well, not any more than we already have,” said Shadow, looking at Rainbow. “Hint, hint.” Rainbow gave a nervous chuckle as Mr. Zoom turned around.

“As a fellow Camp Everfree alumna, I was more than happy to afford the girls who helped save it the chance to visit the set of our little film,” he said.

“Little?” asked Rainbow. “This is Daring Do we’re talking about here. This movie is gonna be huge.” Then a stagehand came up.

“Uh, there’s a problem in wardrobe,” she said. “They can’t find the costume Daring Do was supposed to wear in the nightclub scene.” Mr. Zoom facepalmed.

“If we’re ever able to finish it, it will be,” he said, returning to Rainbow’s last statement. “If you’ll excuse me.” Quickly, he and the stagehand slipped away to check things out. Then Twilight pulled out a piece of paper.

“According to our visitor schedules,” she read. “They won’t start shooting the next scene for a while. Which means we have time to-”

“Get my picture taken with Chestnut Magnifico,” said Rarity excitedly. “The actress playing Daring Do!”

“And ask her to sign my petition to bring more bird feeder to Canterlot High,” said Fluttershy. Everyone stared at them dumbfounded.

“Seriously?” Tails asked Fluttershy.

“Well, Chestnut Magnifico is an avid supporter of a foundation that helps build homes for animals in need,” explained Fluttershy.

“Oh okay,” said Tails.

“But I was thinking that we could-” Twilight was interrupted again by Sunset.

“Check out all the sets?” she asked.

“I’d sure like to get a closer look at that volcano,” said Applejack.

“Me too,” said Knuckles. “Reminds me of Lava Reef back on Angel Island.”

“Actually, I thought we’d-” Twilight began.

“Find the buffet,” said Spike.

“And the cupcake fountain!” said Pinkie.

“They don’t have one of those,” said Sonic.

“Of course they do,” said Pinkie. “I read it in my ‘Hundred Things you didn’t know about this movie studio’ insider tour guide.”

“Is the number one thing that the guy who founded this place was an eccentric oddball with a sweet tooth?” asked Knuckles. Pinkie looked and saw something.

“Yes!” she said.

“Wow,” said Sonic. “Didn’t see that coming.” Twilight looked around and shrugged.

“I guess we’re splitting up?” she asked.

“So it seems,” said Sonic, walking away. “Ciao guys. I’m gonna go for a run.” The others separated and left only Twilight and Rainbow together.

“I don’t suppose you want to…” said Twilight.

“Check out the props that A. K. Yearling designed specially for the movie?” asked Rainbow.

“You read my mind!” said Twilight.


	8. Looking Around

Outside, Rarity, Silver, Tails, and Fluttershy were near a trailer with a big gold star on the door.

“Maybe we shouldn’t bother her when she’s in her trailer,” said Fluttershy.

“Hey, if we don’t, it’d mean I pass up a new addition to my ‘Celebrities Without Make-up’ catalog.” said Silver, holding up a camera.

“Darling, please,” said Rarity. “Actresses love interacting with their fans.” Just as she said that, the door opened and slammed in her face.

“Ooh! That’s gonna hurt in the morning,” said Tails. He looked and there stood Chestnut Magnifico, a tan-skinned girl with light yellow and pink hair.

“Oh! Ms. Magnifico!” said Rarity. “I-” Then she groaned at her phone conversation.

“I don’t care if I’m under contract,” she said. “This is a joke! And I want this thing shut down! Do you hear me!?” With that, she hung up and walked away.

“Yeesh. Someone missed their coffee this morning,” said Silver. Rarity gave a nervous chuckle.

“She probably just didn’t see us,” she said.

“Oy vey,” said Tails. Back on set, Applejack, Knuckles, Sunset and Shadow were on the volcano set looking around.

“Hm. Wonder how long it takes to build something like this,” said Applejack.

“Couple weeks, I’d wager,” said Shadow.

“Well, they sure go all out making it look realistic, huh?” asked Knuckles. Then Sunset heard something tear and stopped. They looked and saw she had just stepped on a candy wrapper.

“Though I don’t think the rainforest is known for its ‘Bon-Maud Peanut Butter Praline Crunch Bars’,” she said.

“Better take that,” said Shadow. “Wouldn’t want it wrecking the shot.” Sunset agreed and stuffed it in her jacket pocket. Elsewhere, Sonic had reunited with Rainbow and Twilight as they looked around the street market set. Then Rainbow looked and saw the Relics to be used in the movie. They consisted of the scepter from earlier, a gold sword with emerald teeth on the blade and handle, and a purple-tipped gold arrow.

“Wow!” said Rainbow. “These are the Three Altoriosa Relics!” They zipped up and took a good look at them.

“The Staff,” said Twilight.

“The Sword,” said Rainbow.

“Don’t forget the Arrow of Altoriosa,” said a girl behind them. They looked and saw a girl with Caucasian skin, chartreuse hair and eyes and a pair of purple glasses. Her hair was held in pigtails by berets shaped like twin film reels, and she was wearing a purple jacket over a light blue shirt, and a black skirt with purple spots on it. “You’re from Canterlot High, right?” The girls nodded, but Sonic was just confused.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” asked Sonic.

“I’m Juniper Montage,” she said. “Canter, the director’s niece. What do you think?”

“They’re awesome!” said Rainbow.

“Gotta admit, they look pretty cool,” said Sonic, before he pointed at Caliburn. “But speaking as a professional swordsman, the sword is kind of impractical.”

“Y’know, I gotta agree with him there,” said Twilight.

“A. K. Yearling is very hands-on when it comes to the sets and props for the movie,” said Juniper.

“Have you met her?” asked Twilight hopefully.

“Just that one time when she came to check out the Relics,” said Juniper. “I did get her to sign a copy of the latest ‘Daring Do’ book though.” The two squealed like ridiculous fangirls, reminding Sonic of Amy back on Mobius.

“So what do you do here?” asked Twilight.

“Mostly I just bring my uncle coffee and help get everything ready for shooting,” said Juniper. “I’ve been on the set for all the movies shot here. I pretty much know every inch of this place like the back of my hand.” Then she gave a proud chuckle. “I tried to convince him to cast me as Daring Do, but he really didn’t go for that.”

“Huh. Shame,” said Sonic.

“Hey! Have you guys seen the set for Cabilaron’s secret lair?” asked Juniper. The girls gave a hopeful gasp and shook their heads. “They usually lock the door to that set, but I’ve got keys that open just about every door in this place.” To signify this, she pulled out a key ring and jingled it before giving a quick, quiet laugh. “Cmon, I’ll show you.” The others quickly followed her, with Sonic leaving Caliburn near the relics. At the craft services table, Pinkie, Manic, Spike and Sonia were eating tons of food, Pinkie, as always, going straight for the candy as she read her pamphlet.

“Three lunch buffets, six different kinds of fondue, two rooms with nothing but candy, and still no cupcake fountain!” she shouted before she realized something. “Oh well. At least we found those peanut butter praline crunch bars. They weren’t in my guide book but they sure were delicious.”

Spike sighed contentedly, patting his stomach. “I’ll say,” he said. “You think they got any more?”

“We’ll leave you guys to that,” said Manic. “Sonia and I gotta go hit the john.” Then they heard someone gasp in fear. They looked and saw Mr. Zoom talking to Chestnut Magnifico.

“One more month, Chestnut, that’s all we need,” he said. “I’m doing everything I can to keep us on schedule, but with all the setbacks we’ve had, I don’t think we can do it. If you could just agree to stay on for one more month…”

“Unacceptable!” said Chestnut, looking under the table.

“But-!” said Mr. Zoom.

“Where are my important peanut butter praline crunch bars?!” asked Chestnut. The others looked at each other in fear.

“Now would probably be a good time to resume the search for that cupcake fountain,” whispered Spike.

“Agreed,” said Sonia and Manic. They quietly slipped up out of the chairs they were in and zipped away. Back on set, everybody was back behind the camera ready for the shooting to start.

“You guys should’ve seen the relics,” whispered Rainbow. “They were amazing!”

“Agh! Quiet on set, please?” asked Mr. Zoom.

“Sorry,” whispered Rainbow. “Maybe I’ll just go take one more peak at them.” Then she zipped away.

“I’d better go with her,” said Sonic. “I almost forgot that I left Caliburn with them.” And he zipped away.

“And action!” said Mr. Zoom. They were still shooting the scene from before, but then the top of the volcano broke off and nearly landed on the actor, but he quickly rolled out of the way before it came crashing down.

“Cut! Cut! Cut!” called Mr. Zoom. Once the dust settled, they saw that the entire set was ruined. “What is going on around here? We just filmed on this volcano and it was fine! This could set us back weeks.” Then Rainbow and Sonic ran back in fear.

“They’re gone!” shouted Rainbow. “They’re all gone!”

“What’s gone?” asked Mr. Zoom, obviously about to freak out.

“Someone stole Caliburn!” said Sonic.

“And the Relics!” shouted Juniper. Everyone screamed in fear, knowing that if they weren’t found, the movie and the Multiverse was doomed.


	9. Find the Thief

The team returned to the street market set to show everyone that the relics were gone and Caliburn’s scabbard was empty.

“We were just coming back to get another look at them up close, but when we got here, Poof! They were all gone!” said Sonic.

“This can’t be happening!” said Mr. Zoom. “What are we gonna do?”

“Can’t the prop department just make a batch of replacements?” asked Shadow.

“The missing Relics were personally approved by A. K. Yearling,” said Mr. Zoom. “We could have new ones made, but we can’t use them until Ms. Yearling has given them her official stamp of approval. You think it’d be easier to reach someone who’s always holed up in her office writing, but she’s a very difficult woman to track down.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Sonic. “I’ll go get her!”

“You can’t,” said Mr. Zoom. “She’s across the country in Toledo!”

“It’ll be okay though, right?” asked Rainbow.

“Chestnut’s contract with us is almost up,” said Mr. Zoom. “And with Mt. Vohoovius collapsing and now this!? I fear we’ll have to stop production altogether.”

“But- But- You have to finish this movie!” said Rainbow. “Think of all the Daring Do fans who will be so disappointed if you don’t.” Sonic zipped up next to her.

“She’s probably only thinking about herself,” he said simply and zipped away.

“Are you sure there’s nothing you can do to-?” Twilight’s question was interrupted when something broke nearby. Mr. Zoom gave a scared whimper.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Please excuse me.” With that, he and Juniper walked away.

“Well boys, looks like it’s game over,” said Sonic, kicking away a fake rock. “With everything that’s going on, this movie is as good as gonzo.” Then Twilight started pondering.

“Hmm,” she said.

“‘Hmm’?” asked Tails.

“There was trouble with one of the costumes when we first arrived,” she said. “A set that was fine yesterday just collapsed, and now the most important props in the movie have been stolen.”

“You’re right, Twilight,” said Sonic. “I don’t think this is just a big coincidence.”

“Me neither,” said Sunset. “All the things that have gone wrong on set have put production on hold. It seems to me like someone is going to a lot of trouble to make sure this movie doesn’t get made.”

“Who would wanna-?” Spike began before Silver realized something.

“Oh crap,” he said. “You’re not thinking what I’m thinking, are you Rarity?”

“Oh, no-no-no-no-no,” she replied. “Certainly not.” Everyone was confused.

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Sonic. Silver looked at Tails, then Fluttershy, then Rarity.

“When we followed Chestnut to her trailer,” said Tails. “We overheard her saying something about shutting down production.”

“Yes, but she said she wanted _something_ shut down,” said Rarity. “We don’t know that she was talking about the movie.” Then Pinkie zipped up.

“Maybe she’s just really mad that they’re always running out of her imported peanut butter praline crunch bars!” she said. Then Shadow remembered something.

“You wouldn’t happen to mean ‘Bon-Maud’ Brand, would you?” he asked, fishing the wrapper out of Sunset’s jacket.

“Those are the ones!” said Pinkie.

“We, uh, may have tried a few ourselves,” said Spike, giving a nervous chuckle.

“They did,” said Sonia. “Manic and I stayed away from them.”

“Oh yeah, totes,” said Manic.

“We found this on the Mt. Vohoovius set right before it collapsed,” said Sunset.

“It sure seems like all the signs are pointing to Chestnut Magnifico,” said Twilight. “As the one causing all the problems around here.”

“I don’t know who’s behind this or what’s going on,” said Rainbow. “But the first thing we need to do is find those relics.”

“Agreed,” said Sonic. “They were here earlier today, along with Caliburn and my Rainbow Geode, and if Chestnut’s behind all this, then they have to still be around here somewhere.”

“Chestnut Magnifico is an acclaimed actress,” said Rarity. “She’d never do something so dramatic.”

“An actress? Dramatic?” asked Sunset sarcastically. “Never.”

“Well, she might do something like this if she was trying to get out of working on something she didn’t want to do,” said Knuckles.

“We’ll have to split up and find more evidence,” said Shadow. “Sunset, Fluttershy, Tails, Pinkie, Manic, Sonia, Spike and I will follow Chestnut and see if we can find anything out.”

“Let’s do it!” said Pinkie as they left.

“Meantime, the rest of us will search around for the relics,” said Sonic.

“Where do we even start?” asked Applejack. “It’s not like there’s some mysterious thieving cloaked figure we can chase after and say ‘Hey! Tell us where you’re keepin’ the Relics’!”

“You mean something like that guy?” asked Knuckles pointing somewhere. There was someone in a dark cloak trying to sneak away.

“Hey! Hold it right there!” shouted Sonic. The figure ran off down an alley not wanting to take the brunt of the blame. Rainbow quickly gripped her necklace and activated her super-speed. Sonic took an Olympic runner’s starting position.

“Race ya!” he said and they both rocketed after her, frizzling everyone else’s hair.

“Cmon, let’s go!” shouted Knuckles as they ran after them. The speedsters split up and ran in different directions but didn’t have any luck until they both met back up and the others panted in behind them.

“Damn it! We lost them!” said Sonic. “I can’t believe it!”

“I know! My geode gives me super-speed, but I guess being awesomely fast doesn’t help when the person you’re chasing knows their way around better than you do,” said Rainbow. Then the other team rounded a corner.

“Hey guys,” said Sunset.

“Any luck on your end?” asked Knuckles.

“We couldn’t find her anywhere,” said Shadow.

“But we did find a cupcake fountain!” said Pinkie, pulling one out of her hair and eating it.

“And then we got lost and ended up here somehow,” said Tails. “How ‘bout you guys?”

“We spotted this super suspicious cloaked figure, but they got away,” said Rainbow.

“And our powers didn’t help at all,” said Sonic. “This place is a maze. But I know they’re here somewhere.”


	10. Justice Prevails

“There you are,” said a stagehand. “Where are your costumes? Oh, we gotta hurry. I’m gonna be so fired if you aren’t ready. The director wants to shoot in three minutes!” Then he shoved everybody behind a changing screen.

“What the hell?” asked Sonic. Soon they were shoved onto a set wearing different costumes. Applejack had a head-mask, a green hair cover, a red suit over a green shirt with a black belt with a gold lasso on it.

Twilight had a purple suit with goggles over her mask and slate-colored boots.

Rarity had gems in her hair and pink diamond bracelets with a dark blue suit and mask.

Rainbow was wearing a black suit with white boots and lighting bolt decals on the legs and a lightning bolt necklace.

Sunset’s hair was turned green and wild as she was wearing a purple suit with black sleeves and boots.

Pinkie was wearing a white suit with purple decals.

Fluttershy was wearing a chartreuse suit with a purple mask and boots and was holding Spike who was wearing a mask and cape.

Sonic and his team were dressed up as the Justice League; Knuckles was Superman, Sonia was Wonder Woman, Shadow was Batman, Silver was Martian Manhunter, Sonic was the Flash, Manic was Green Lantern, and Tails was Green Arrow.

“Okay, time-out! Whatever’s going on here, it was obviously a mistake!” said Sonic.

“Wait, wait,” said the Director who looked at them. “Who are these guys?”

“They’re the Justice League and Power Ponies!” said the stagehand nervously. The Director groaned and pinched his nose. “I’m tired, aren’t I?”

“So fired,” said the director.

“Who the heck are the Power Ponies?” asked Sonic, taking off his mask.

“A team of girl heroes,” said Rainbow. “I’m Zapp, Twilight’s the Masked Matterhorn, Applejack’s Mistress Mare-Velous, Rarity’s Radiance, Sunset’s the Mane-iac, Pinkie’s Filly-Second, Fluttershy’s Saddle Rager, and Spike’s Hum-Drum.” Then Knuckles saw something.

“Hey! There she is!” he shouted. They all looked and saw the cloaked figure behind the set, who quickly ran away. They tried to rush them, but they got stuck on the set. Knuckles promptly jumped into the air to try and find her, but then he stopped mid-air.

“What the heck?” he asked. “I can actually fly!” Then Shadow saw a faint shimmer coming from all their suits.

“I think these suits got hit with Equestrian Magic,” he said. “That means we have all our heroes’ powers!”

“Epic!” said Manic who also quickly took flight and spotted the thief. “Follow her!” Sonic and Pinkie quickly rocketed after her with their super-speed with the others close behind. They chased her through several different sets. A film noir train station, a medieval castle, and a racing movie street. Pinkie slid over one of the cars trying to look cool, but she accidentally turned on the car alarm and started running again. Soon they had chased her through a space set, but once they went through another door, they were out of breath and they had lost her.

“Uh, what’s this place supposed to be?” asked Applejack, looking around. The set they were on was a city covered in what looked like chocolate.

“And where’d she go?” asked Knuckles.

“You’ve got x-ray vision now,” said Sonic. “You tell me.” Knuckles tried it, but she couldn’t see anything.

“She must be around here somewhere,” said Twilight. “Wherever here is.” Pinkie gasped.

“Are you kidding?” she asked. “This is the set of ‘Stormy with a side of Pudding’!”

“Never heard of it,” said Sonic.

“Oh, guh, it’s only my all-time favorite movie,” said Pinkie exasperated. Everyone else just shrugged, rolled their eyes, or facepalmed. “I’ve tried to get you all to watch it like a kazillion-billion times!” Then she remembered something. “I’ve heard they use real pudding.” She zipped over and grabbed a finger of it before she ate it. “Oh… They do!” Everyone looked at her dumbfounded before Rainbow got back on track.

“Guh! We’re running out of time!” she said. “We’re supposed to be hunting down the missing relics and catching the bad guy, not eating pudding!” No one noticed the thief was behind them.

“Hey look Dash,” said Sonic. “We’re trying here. Really, we are. Maybe we should make our way back to the Daring Do set. We might’ve overlooked something.” Then Knuckles’ ear twitched at the sound of something.

“Out of the way!” he shouted flying away with Rainbow in his arms. Then a net flew in out of nowhere and caught everyone under it before it attached itself to the ground with high-powered magnets.

“Ow! Hey!” shouted Sonic.

“You’re going down, honey!” said Knuckles and he flew towards her, but then she pulled out a glowing green stone that seemed to weaken Knuckles as he fell to the ground groaning.

“Knuckles, what’s wrong?” asked Shadow.

“Kryptonite,” he groaned. “Superman’s one weakness.” Rainbow looked and saw the thief had left the Kryptonite on the ground and run. Rainbow quickly ran after her with her powers, getting pudding on her feet, but once she stopped, the thief was nowhere to be seen.

“I knew I saw you come in here,” she said to herself. Then she heard something from the other door. “Where are you?” The thief raced past some lights and through the other door. Rainbow was scared, but she followed anyway into a dimly lit prop room. She walked cautiously in and looked around. She was spooked by a dragon statue, but she wasn’t bugged. Then she saw a red and orange dress in a locker.

“Hey,” she realized pulling it out. “This is just like the outfit Daring Do wears in the nightclub scene. What’s it doing here?” The thief, who had been hiding behind some boxes, slipped out the door and slammed it shut. Rainbow tried to get out, but the thief locked her in. Rainbow tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Hey!” she yelled.


	11. Take Her Down!

Rainbow tried and tried but the door wouldn’t move.

“Hello?” she called out. “Anybody out there?” She tried again, but she was still locked in, so she just sat on a box and wiped her eye before something came to her.

“No problem,” she said. “I’ll just call the others and let them know- Ugh, except I can’t because security took all our phones when we got here!” She groaned and tried the doors again, but they still wouldn’t move, so she banged on it. “Help! I’m trapped in here!” Meanwhile, the others had finally gotten out of the net, and Shadow had thrown the Kryptonite away from Knuckles.

“We have to find Rainbow Dash,” said Applejack.

“I don’t see how,” said Rarity. “She moved so fast she could be anywhere on the lot by now. Why she felt it necessary to where her geode that gives her super-speed to a movie set, I’ll never know.”

“I wish I’d brought mine,” said Sunset. “One touch and I’d be able to see Chestnut’s memories and we could get to the bottom of this whole thing.”

“I’ve already tried reaching Rainbow telepathically,” said Silver. “But I can’t sense her.”

“I’ve used my x-ray vision and super-hearing, but I can’t find her anywhere. Must be somewhere lined with lead,” said Knuckles. “Anyone else got any ideas?”

“I know how to find Rainbow Dash,” said Pinkie. “Follow the pudding!” Then she ate her finger full of it. Everyone looked at her dumbfounded, but then Sonic saw the ground.

“She’s right. Look,” he said. “Rainbow must’ve knocked that bucket over when she left and stepped in it. All we have to do it follow the trail and we’ll find her.”

“Follow me,” said Spike and he ran down the trail.

“You’re a genius, Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight.

“I know,” said Pinkie.

“Follow that dog!” said Manic flying after Spike with the others. Pinkie quickly took the pudding bucket and hid it in her hair for safe-keeping, confusing Twilight.

“Eh,” said Pinkie. “For the road.” Then they followed the others. Soon they reached the end of the trail and started looking around. Then Fluttershy saw the doors rattling.

“Rainbow Dash? Are you in there?” she asked.

“Yes! Help! I’m locked in!” she yelled. Fluttershy tried, but she couldn’t open it.

“I’ll go find someone with a key,” said Sunset.

“Wait,” said Twilight. Then she touched her pendant and used her telekinesis to undo the lock herself. Once it was open, Rainbow jumped through and grabbed her in a hug.

“Boy, am I happy to see you!” she said.

“Did you just make that lock unlock itself?” asked Rarity.

“Nice,” said Sunset.

“Thinking we should all start wearin’ our geodes around,” said Applejack. “Never know when our new magic might come in handy.”

“Good call,” said Sonic.

“How’d you find me? I gave up banging on the door five minutes ago,” said Rainbow.

“Pudding never lies,” said Pinkie eating the entire bucket.

“What?” asked Rainbow

“You’ve got pudding all over your boots,” said Sonic. “It left us a nice trail to follow.”

“Hey, isn’t that the costume that went missing when we first got here?” asked Sunset, referring to the dress Rainbow was holding.

“Yeah, but I didn’t see the person who locked me in and there’s still no sign of the Relics,” said Rainbow.

“Huh,” said Applejack. “I say we head back to the scene of the crime. Maybe there’s something there that could lead us to the relics.”

“Or… we could let the culprit lead us to them,” said Twilight.

“What do you mean?” asked Sonic. “How are we supposed to see that? No one knows who it is.”

“We think we’ve got a pretty good idea of who we’re looking for here,” said Shadow. “And we’re gonna need Canter Zoom to help catch her.” Pinkie just responded by guzzling more pudding.

“I hope this is a good plan, Shadow,” said Sonic.

“Trust me,” he replied. “She won’t know what hit her. Now here’s the plan…”


	12. Fiend Apprehended

Later, everyone was back at the street market set with Mr. Zoom, Juniper and Chestnut.

“You found this in a supply closet?” asked Mr. Zoom, looking at the costume.

“We haven’t found the relics yet,” said Shadow. “But we don’t think the thief has had a chance to take them off the lot yet. We wanted your permission to check the tri-corner set top-to-bottom until we find something. Maybe it’ll lead us to them and the crook.”

“Of course,” said Mr. Zoom. “Chestnut, I need you to get into hair and makeup. Once we get the Relics back, we’re gonna start shooting again.” Chestnut scoffed and walked off.

“We’ll see,” she said. Juniper was biting her lip in concern as she walked off, but her uncle called her for a smoothie run, so she quickly left. Later, the thief had slipped back to an old crate in the back of the room from which she pulled the Relics and Caliburn. Then her hood fell off to reveal it to be Juniper.

“I told you all it wasn’t Chestnut,” said Rarity proudly. Juniper was spooked and dropped the items. Then Caliburn flew right back to Sonic’s gauntleted hand where he promptly sheathed it. Juniper looked around and saw that she was surrounded. Quickly, she tried to play it off and feigned a gasp.

“Look!” she said, picking up the Relics. “I found the missing Relics!”

“Because you’re the one who stole them in the first place,” said Sunset, as Shadow slapped a pair of cuffs on her wrists.

“She… She wouldn’t,” said Mr. Zoom, who walked up/

“Wanna bet?” asked Shadow. “She planned for everything. Except for Rainbow coming to the set where she was able to slip them away to a better hiding spot.”

“So she was forced to hide them in the first place she could find,” continued Twilight. “But she knew she couldn’t leave them there, so first chance she got, she tried to sneak them away. Unfortunately for her, we saw her.”

“But as she said herself, she knows every inch of this place like the back of her hand,” said Shadow. “So she managed to trap us, disable Knuckles and lose Rainbow. For a time. But when she figured out where she ran off to, she locked her in the supply closet with the same ring of keys that gives her access to pretty much every door on the lot.”

“Which gave her the time she needed to hide the Relics here,” said Twilight.

“When did you figure out it was her?” asked Rainbow.

“I started to piece things together when I unlocked the door to get you out of the supply closet,” said Twilight. “But I knew Juniper would never admit she was the one who had taken the Relics.”

“Unless of course, she was caught in the act of trying to move them again,” said Sunset.

“Which is exactly why we told you to send her on that smoothie run,” said Shadow. “So she would assume she would have the opportunity to get the Relics out of the lot where we’d never find them.”

“But instead of searching the tri-corner set, you were all secretly following me here,” squeaked Juniper in realization.

“Guilty as charged,” said Shadow.

“Why would you do this?” asked Mr. Zoom.

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry,” said Juniper. “I just can’t stand Chestnut! She’s always eating all the peanut butter praline crunch bars, which are the only candy bars I like.” Pinkie quietly pulled out of her hair and ate it as Manic and Sonia walked away from her whistling.

“That’s hardly a reason to go and-” Mr. Zoom was interrupted by his niece’s angry ranting continuing.

“And I was mad at you for casting her as Daring Do,” she said. “I mean I have told you over and over again how badly I wanted to play Daring Do and you just ignored me!”

“But Juniper, you’re too young! You don’t have any experience,” said Mr. Zoom.

“I know, but I thought if enough things went wrong, Chestnut would maybe back out of the movie and then… you’d give me a chance,” she said hopefully.

“Wow,” said Sonic. “That is one of the lamest evil plans I’ve ever heard.”

“Word up,” said Manic.

“Not only did you jeopardize the production, endanger the safety of the actors and the film crew, but you also lied to me and took advantage of my trust!” said Mr. Zoom angrily.

“Gotta admit,” said Silver. “Kind of a dick-move.”

“I know,” wept Juniper. “And I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone and I was going to return all the props just as soon as Chestnut quit. I hope you can forgive me.” Mr. Zoom was angry, but he calmed himself.

“You’re my niece, Juniper,” he said. “So of course I can forgive you. But I’m sorry to say you’re no longer welcome on this set, and it’ll be a long time before I consider allowing you back here.” Then Security arrived and took her by the arms. Shadow handed the guard the handcuff keys and smirked. Mr. Zoom also made Juniper give him her keys. She was almost out the door when she gave a threatening glare at the team. Then she left and Chestnut came on.

“Canter, there you are,” she chuckled. “So sorry I’m not in make-up, but I’ve just gotten a call from my agent. I no longer have to work on that ridiculous documentary about nests next month. I swear, when they approached me, I thought they wanted to do a documentary about my organization for homeless animals. Not on various ‘nests’ around the world. Completely misleading, but no matter, that’s all behind us.”

“Does this mean-?” asked Canter.

“No more scheduling conflict,” she said. “I can extend my contract and continue filming Daring Do.” Then she saw the items in Sunset’s arms. “Hey. Are those the missing Relics?”

“Indeed they are,” said Sonic. “And thanks to us, their only disappearances from now on will be completely on-script.”

“Seriously,” said Canter. “First you save Camp Everfree, now the Daring Do movie. Y’all are certainly on a roll.”

“Speaking of rolls, don’t suppose you have any extra parts my friends and I could fill, do ya?” asked Rainbow. “Y’know, as a reward for saving the day.” Canter looked them over and smirked.

“I think we could arrange something,” he said. Everyone cheered, and soon they were on set in costume. Daring was running through the street with the sword on her belt, trying to find her exit. The team was playing the roles of street traders and performers before she ran into Stalwart Stallion, holding the crackling staff.

“You will give me the Sword of Altoriosa,” he said. Daring responded by pulling it from her belt in a defensive manner.

“I don’t think so, Stalwart,” she said.

“Very well then,” he said. “Have it your way.” Then he used the Staff to cast some sort of spell surrounding them in a tornado. “Give up, Daring Do. The Sword shall be mine!” Then the sword was pulled from her belt by his spell into his hand. Then Daring heard someone whistle. She looked and saw Rainbow throwing her a whip. She quickly caught it and used it to knock the Staff out of Stalwart’s hands, sending the sword down with it.

“This is so cool!” said Rainbow.

“Cut!” called Canter.

“Again, Rainbow? Seriously?” asked Sonic. “We’re on take 13 now.” Rainbow realized it and gave a nervous chuckle.

“Sorry,” she said.


	13. The Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Book 3: Mirror Magic
> 
> As the pages in her journal run out, there's only one thing for Sunset Shimmer to do: return to Equestria to get a new journal! There, she and Shadow meet Princess Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer and agree to bring her back to experience life at Canterlot High. But while they were away, a revenge-seeking Juniper Montage finds a beautiful crystalline hand mirror enchanted with Equestrian magic. Not only can it provide a window into another land, but if you push the right button, it can also make things disappear into limbo, trapped between the two realms!

It had been a while since the movie shoot, and Canter Zoom still had his niece Juniper Montage punished because of her attempts to sabotage it, which consisted of her working at his movie theater at the mall. She was just walking past a wall of TVs when they turned to the Rainbooms’ music video. She was still bitter at them for having gotten her booted, and she was just about to explode as she walked around.

“First, they get me kicked off the ‘Daring Do’ set,” she said angrily. “Now…” Then she bumped into a sign for the movie, showing the girls down in the corner. “They’re everywhere! I bet they’ll be at the premiere tonight. I bet I’ll be the lucky one ushering them to their seats.” She growled as she hit the sign, and dropped it on the ground. Then her radio went off.

“Juniper! Where are you?” asked her supervisor. “We need you back at the popcorn popper stat!”

She tried to get out of it by making some fake static and then turned off her radio. “If those guys hadn’t shown up, _I_ would be playing Daring Do. Tonight would’ve been about me. I would’ve been a star.” She put on some star-shaped sunglasses from the nearby kiosk and imagined the admiration. The owner looked at her and shook his head before looking away. Juniper looked in a nearby hand mirror and thought about something.

“You’re right,” she said. “They are a bit much.” She went to put them back. What she didn’t notice was that a wisp of Equestrian Magic flew down through the skylight and hit the mirror, crystallizing it. Juniper took it to look at another pair of sunglasses, but instead, it showed what she imagined herself to be; a beautiful movie star. She shrieked and dropped it, but it didn’t even crack. She looked around, curious as to what happened, and moved to touch the mirror again, but blue fire erupted from it. She was confused, but she looked at it again, seeing her movie star self, amazed. Quickly she threw some money on the counter and thought of hundreds of uses for the mirror.

Elsewhere, Sunset was with Shadow, writing yet another note to Princess Twilight in her magic journal.

“ _Dear Princess Twilight,_ ” she wrote. “ _Tonight’s the night of the big movie premiere. All the others are really excited and I should be too, except I can’t seem to keep my mind on anything but our new powers. And the rogue magic that’s loose in this world, and how scary and exhilarating it all is. And Shadow of course. Y’know, we actually started dating after we got back from Camp Everfree, but still, about the magic. I just want to know everything about it; How does it work, how can we be prepared for it, when will it show up again? Well, you see the problem. With the weight of all Equestria on your shoulders, you must have some advice on how to-_ ” She paused to turn the page, but then she saw something.

“No! Oh shoot,” she said.

“What’s the matter, Sunset Shimmer?” asked Pinkie, plopping down with a tray of burgers as the others came up.

“Oh, I just ran out of pages in my journal,” said Sunset. “That’s all.”

“Chillax, Sun-Shim,” said Rainbow.

“Who’s that?” asked Tails.

“It’s Sunset’s new movie star name,” said Sonic. “We just came up with it. Pretty good, huh?”

“For Sweet Apple’s sake, we only have _bit-parts_ in this flick,” said Applejack.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re playing the lead,” said Knuckles.

“Not yet, Knuckles,” said Silver.

“There’s more bugging you than just journal pages, isn’t there?” asked Twilight. She was worried to say anything, but Manic got up next to her.

“Cmon babe, share your troubles,” he said. “It might help relax you.”

“Aw I don’t wanna take any of the fun out of our big night,” said Sunset. Pinkie yelled at her to get her to share, so Shadow had to force her down to get her out of her face.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “It’s just that things have been calm around here, magic-wise,” said Sunset.

“And that’s bad how, precisely?” asked Rarity.

“It’s not,” said Sunset. “It’s just that instead of enjoying the fact that things are calm, I’m constantly thinking about things going wrong, even when they aren’t.”

“Ooh,” said Fluttershy worried, as always. “Like… Like what things?”

“Relax, she’s just speaking metaphorically,” said Tails. “Right?”

“I don’t know,” replied Sunset. “I shouldn’t even be thinking about any of this stuff right now. Neither should any of you.” Then the journal’s pages started glowing. Pinkie reached for it, but Shadow smacked her hands away and he took it.

“Looks like Twilight’s already writing you back,” he said. “Oh my God. It looks like she wants you to return to Equestria.” Sunset’s eyes widened in fear.

Back at the movie theater, Juniper was still admiring her fantasy reflection in her mirror.

“It’s like this mirror is the only one around here who gets me,” she thought out loud. Then she heard her supervisor, so she quickly hid the mirror and looked at him.

“Popcorn spill! At the condiment counter!” he said handing her a broom.

“Does this look like someone who cleans popcorn spills?” she asked showing him the mirror, but all he saw was his own reflection.

“No,” he said. “It looks like someone about to fire somebody.” HE pushed the broom into her and she left groaning.

“This is the worst!” she said. Then she thought of something. She figured looking at her mirror self would perk her up, and she was right. “I wish this popcorn would just clean itself up, so I could just stare at you all day.” Then the mirror glowed and shot a beam at the popcorn, pulling it inside before it returned to normal. Her supervisor came by and he was impressed.

“Wow,” he said, prompting Juniper to hide the mirror. “Done? Already? I’m shocked.” Then he left and Juniper looked back at the mirror.

“You and me both,” she said shakily.


	14. Trip down Memory Lane

Back at Canterlot High, the statue still hadn’t been repaired, and Sunset was preparing to make the journey back through the portal to Equestria. Then Shadow appeared.

“Mind if I tag along?” he asked.

“I guess so,” she said. “I could use the familiar company.” The two took a deep breath and passed through the portal, sending them into a dimensional whirlpool.

“I’m gonna hurl!” screamed Shadow. While in the vortex, Shadow and Sunset saw each other changing. Sunset turned into an orange unicorn and her symbol moved to her flank. Shadow’s leather melded with his skin, turning into black fur, a black horn sprung from his forehead, and the symbol of the Black Arms appeared on his flank.

Then in Equestria, Princess Twilight’s extremely complicated portal apparatus activated and they shot through into piles of books. Shadow was knocked unconscious by the fall while Sunset was just dazed. Sunset shook her head, and saw someone standing over her, but she couldn’t make out who it was.

“Princess Twilight?” she asked shakily. “Is that you?” Then her vision cleared to reveal it was someone else entirely. It was another female unicorn, but she had pale, light grayish heliotrope colored fur, a moderate purple mane with lighter purple and pale light, grayish aquamarine highlights, and moderate Persian blue eyes. On her flank was a purple four-pointed star overlapping a white four-pointed star with blue wisps coming from it.

“Nope,” she replied. “Starlight Glimmer.” Sunset chuckled nervously getting up.

“Oops,” she said. She tried walking on her hind legs, almost losing her balance but she got it and stood. Starlight looked at her confused, making her realize something, so she dropped down to all fours. “Whoa. That feels a little weird after all this time.” Then she realized something. “Starlight Glimmer. You’re Twilight’s student, right?”

“Uh-huh,” she replied, levitating out another journal. “She wanted me to give you this.” Sunset instinctively tried to grab it with her hoof, but it fell. She remembered she had magic and levitated it into her bag.

“She wanted to give it to you herself, but then she and her friends were called away to solve a friendship problem. Happens a lot around here,” said Starlight. Then Shadow groaned as he got up. “Speaking of friends, who’s that guy?”

“Name’s Shadow,” he said groggily. “And you are?”

“Starlight Glimmer,” she replied. “Princess Twilight’s protégé.”

“About the others,” said Sunset. “Must be stressful, huh? Never knowing when you might be called on to save the day. Dropping everything at a moment’s notice. How does she do it?”

“Must take a lot of practice,” said Shadow.

“Sorry,” said Starlight. “She just told me to give you the journal.” Sunset giggled before she gave another sad look.

“So are you sure she won’t be back anytime soon?” she asked.

“Pretty sure,” said Starlight.

“Okay,” said Sunset standing up on her hind legs again. “I guess we’ll be going now.” She lost her balance again and fell back to her four hooves giving a nervous smile before she and Shadow trotted back to the portal before Starlight grew curious.

“What’s it like back there?” she asked.

“Pretty much the same as any other parallel dimension I’ve visited,” said Shadow. “But for your kind, totally different.”

“And yet at the same time, not so much,” said Sunset. “It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Huh. Guess you kinda have to go there to really get it, huh?” asked Starlight, scratching at the ground with her hoof. “I uh, don’t suppose…?”

“You really think Princess Twilight would be okay with that?” asked Sunset.

“I don’t know for sure that she wouldn’t be okay with it,” said Starlight.

“Not exactly a very compelling argument,” said Shadow.

“She wants me to learn as much as I can about friendship,” said Starlight. “And I’m not learning a whole lot just hanging out here in her castle.”

“Fair point, fair point,” said Shadow. “What do you think, Sunset?” She put her hoof to her chin to ponder and smirked.

“Well, I haven’t ever seen a double of you in that world, so chances are you aren’t gonna run into yourself,” she said.

“Is something you don’t hear every day,” said Starlight bluntly.

“So, just lay low,” said Sunset. “Don’t draw too much attention to yourself-” Sunset was interrupted when Starlight gave a horse-like scoff.

“You’ll barely even notice I’m there,” she said.

“Introducing you to the others could be a nice distraction,” said Shadow. Starlight just zipped up.

“But you’ll also totally notice I’m there,” she said. “And it will keep your mind off of other things that might be bothering you.” She looked at them with hopeful eyes before bumping Sunset’s shoulder. “So? What do you think? Can I go back with you?” The two thought about it before they reached a consensus.

“Ah, what the hell,” said Shadow. “Let’s go!” With that, the three jumped back through the portal.


	15. New Arrival

Upon exiting the portal, Sunset and Shadow had turned back to normal and Sunset appeared along with them, a bit dazed. She stretched out her hands and was confused by them.

“What happened?” she asked.

“It’s all pretty weird at first, but try to roll with it,” said Sunset, pulling her up. Shadow got a good look at her. She was wearing a pair of tattered lavender pants, a chartreuse t-shirt with a rose collar and cuffs under a black vest and she had a light pink had with white stars on it on her head.

“Not too shabby,” he said. “Not too shabby at all.” Starlight lost her balance for a minute since it was her first time standing on two legs, but Sunset and Shadow stabilized her. Then someone walked past. Sunset and Shadow looked at them nervously and waved as they left.

“Are these-?!” asked Starlight.

“They’re called hands,” said Shadow.

“And what happened to the rest of my hoo-?” she started.

“Feet,” said Sunset. “Those are feet.”

“Remember the whole ‘lay low’ thing?” asked Shadow. “Now would be a good time to start playing it cool.”

“Oh right,” said Starlight. “Play it cool.” Then she dropped to her hands and feet and started walking on them before Shadow scooped her up onto her feet. People looked at them weirdly, but left.

“You did say I’d make a good distraction.

“No, you said that,” said Shadow. “Look, just follow our lead okay?” Back at the theater, Juniper was experimenting with her mirror by dumping popcorn on the ground and having it clean it up for her. Then she heard Pinkie Pie exclaim her name, and she quickly hid the mirror.

“What the hell are you doing here?” asked Knuckles.

“Were you invited to the ‘Daring Do’ premiere?” asked Pinkie. “Ooh, that’s exciting! No, crazy! No, concerning! No, just no! No offense.”

“That sounds about right,” said Manic. “Now answer the question.”

“I wasn’t invited to the premiere,” said Juniper. “My uncle Canter Zoom still can’t trust me, so he pulled some strings and got me this job.” Fluttershy and Pinkie looked at each other before the former spoke up.

“You work here?” she asked.

“As little as possible,” Juniper replied cleaning up the counter.

“Well, that’s kinda your own fault,” said Sonic. “If you hadn’t tried to sabotage the movie, you _could_ be celebrating with us.” Then she seethed in anger as she walked up. “Whoa! Poor choice of words! My bad.”

“This should be my night!” she said angrily. “I would’ve found a way to be in the movie, if you all would’ve stayed out of it. I would’ve been Daring Do! Everyone would’ve loved me. See?!” She showed them the mirror, but they just saw themselves.

“And I’m seeing… that my hair is out of line,” said Sonic, whipping out a comb and grooming himself back into place. “Ah. That’s better. Thanks.”

“Can’t you see what’s right under your noses?” asked Juniper, looking back at it.

“Y’know, now that you mention it, I do feel something dangling under my nose,” said Knuckles, flicking at something. Juniper just growled.

“I wish you’d all just go away and leave me alone!” she yelled. Then the mirror started glowing and it pulled the team in before returning to normal, and shocking Juniper. Then a wisp of magic slid up her arm and turned her eyes green. She blinked and they returned to normal, but then she grew a devious smirk, looking at the butterfly beret Fluttershy dropped. She picked it up and pinned it to her shirt smiling into the mirror.

“Looks like I may be getting the hang of this,” she said and her reflection shifted to her movie star self, as she laughed conceitedly.


	16. Mucho Grande Problemo

In another corner of the mall, Sunset and Shadow were showing Starlight around.

“Twelve cell phones _and_ comlinks, all straight to voicemail,” said Sunset. “Unbelievable.”

“I’m sure they’re around,” said Starlight, eating some ice cream. “What’s the worst that could’ve happened?”

“Which version do you want?” asked Shadow “Regular, or abridged?”

“Let’s go with abridged,” said Starlight.

“Equestrian magic is on the loose here now, and it does not work the same way it does back in Equestria,” said Sunset. “Any number of terrible things could’ve happened. And lately, I spend 8o% of my time thinking about them.”

“I think that pretty much covers it, don’t you?” asked Shadow. Then Sunset realized she was probably giving a worst-case scenario.

“My friends are probably fine,” she said. “I’m overreacting. But maybe not? I can’t tell anymore.”

“This is the problem you wanted to talk to Princess Twilight about, right?” asked Starlight. “Because you can still talk it over with me if you want.” But Sunset just pulled out her journal and got ready to write. “Or you could just journal with Princess Twilight about it. Whatever works.”

“It’s just I know my friends and I have been given special powers for a reason, and I wanna be ready for whatever’s gonna be thrown at us,” said Sunset. “I guess knowing that is making me feel like I can never really relax or let my guard down. So I end up obsessing about it and can’t get out of my own head.”

“A bit ironic seeing as how you can see into people’s mind just by making physical contact, but whatever,” said Shadow.

“Hmm,” pondered Starlight. “That is a toughie. Guess my advice would be to just trust things will work themselves out in the end. You spend too much time worrying about the bad things that _might_ happen, you’ll miss out on all the good things that _are_ happening.” Then she saw her ice cream was down two scoops. Sunset chuckled.

“Like how Princess Twilight’s student is teaching me a lesson right now?” she asked.

“One word;” said Shadow. “Irony.”

“Yep. Like that,” said Starlight. Shadow chuckled and pulled her along.

“Cmon, let’s go find the team,” he said, looking at his watch. “It’s almost time for the big premiere. They’ll be there.” He was half right. They were there, but they were trapped in some sort of white void after being sucked into Juniper’s mirror.

“Any idea where we are, or what the hell just happened?” asked Silver.

“Pinkie Pie’s on the case,” said Pinkie. She grabbed the camera and wiggled it around, but didn’t see anything. “Nope. No wall over here. Come out, come out walls! Wherever you are!”

**I swear to God, I thought I told her not to break the fourth wall.**

**Deadpool: Yeah. That’s my shtick.**

**What the? Deadpool? What the hell are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be being played by Ryan Reynolds shooting your third money?**

**Deadpool: Yeah, we’re done with that for the day. I just stopped by to fuck shit up.**

***shoves him down* Well, get back in your hole and wait your turn. And don’t even think about shooting me in the ass.**

**Deadpool: Okay, okay, fine.**

**Okay, where were we? Ah yes.**

Then Pinkie walked in on the other side of the area. “I don’t get this place. There’s no walls in here anywhere.” Then they saw something. A hole opened in the air above them showing a door to the outside. Tails quickly scanned it with his hand-held and was amazed.

“Incredible,” he said. “Somehow, we’ve all been siphoned into Juniper’s mirror.”

“Or into some limbo behind it,” said Twilight.

“I think I might be freaking out a little bit,” said Fluttershy.

“Surprising absolutely no one,” said Sonic.

“Call that a freak-out?” asked Rainbow.

“Sort of a deep-down inside freak-out,” said Fluttershy.

“On the upside, there’s popcorn in here,” said Pinkie, pecking it off the ground like a chicken. “Mmm. Sticky.”

“However that makes sense,” said Manic.

“Little does around Pinkie Pie,” said Sonic. “I thought we’d established that.”

“How could this happen on the evening of my very first movie premiere?” asked Rarity. “Of all the nights. Curse you, cruel fate!”

“Not our number one problem right now, Rarity,” said Rainbow.

“Hmm. True,” she said. “But perhaps we can agree it’s in the top five.”

“Fair enough,” said Silver. “But seriously, are we really trapped in here forever?” Then a rain of some brown masses fell from the air.

“Oh, my heavens, what’s that?” asked Rarity, conjuring a shield. Sonic quickly caught one and tasted it.

“Tastes like chocolate-covered almonds,” he said. Twilight quickly used her power and stopped all of them from hitting them, holding them in mid-air.

“Dibs!” said Pinkie eating them out of the air like Pac-Man. Outside, Juniper was using her mirror to clean up a box of the aforementioned food that she “accidentally” dropped. Then Sunset, Shadow and Starlight walked in surprised to see her. Quickly, Sunset grabbed Starlight and they all dove behind the crane machine.

“It’s Juniper Montage,” said Sunset.

“No!” said Starlight. “Who’s that?”

“Trouble,” said Shadow, noticing something. “Hey, isn’t that Fluttershy’s beret?” Sunset quickly handed Starlight her bag as she and Shadow got up.

“Wait here for us,” she told her and they walked over. Juniper was instantly in fear when she saw them in her mirror, but then she cooled off.

“Sunset Shimmer. Shadow,” she said. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

“We’re uh, looking for our friends,” said Sunset, fiddling with her pendant. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen them?” Juniper chuckled cruelly. Shadow knew she knew something, so he pulled his gun.

“Where are they?” he asked.

“I’ll never tell,” she said.

“You don’t have to,” said Sunset, grabbing Juniper’s hand. Then her eyes went white and she saw her memories. Her uncle got her the job at the theater as punishment for her behavior on his set, and then she saw her trap the others in the mirror. She snapped out of it and gasped.

“What?” asked Juniper, pulling her hand away. Thankfully, Silver’s memory link from the music video contest held, so Shadow saw everything.

“We know you want people to like you, but trust me,” said Sunset. “The magic in that mirror is only gonna make things worse for you.”

“You’re just saying that because you want the mirror for yourself,” said Juniper.

“No, what we want is our team back,” said Shadow. “Please Juniper, you wished them into that thing. Now wish them out before I have to use this.” To signify he was serious, he took the safety off his gun.

“Or maybe…” said Juniper, more magic coursing up her arm. “I wish you join them!” Then the two were pulled into the mirror. Starlight was the only ally they had left on the outside, and Juniper heard her, but when she looked around, Starlight was nowhere to be seen, so she left. Leaving Starlight with a dilemma.


	17. We Want Out!

Inside the mirror, Knuckles and Applejack were trying to get Twilight close enough to the hole in the air to escape, but she couldn’t reach. Then she saw Sunset and Shadow fall through and hit the ground.

“Sunset Shimmer!” shouted Twilight.

“Shadow!” shouted Sonic as they all ran over and helped them up. “You guys okay?”

“Hurray! We’re all together again!” said Pinkie grabbing them in a hug.

“Wait a sec,” said Sonic. “If we’re all in here, then no one knows where we are, and we’re gonna be stuck in here forever!” Then the geodes started glowing with a pulse.

“Um girls?” she said.

“Starlight Glimmer does,” said Shadow.

“Um, girls?” Fluttershy tried again.

“You mean Princess Twilight’s student?” asked Silver.

“How would she know where- Ohhhh….” said Pinkie, realizing it.

“You didn’t,” said Twilight. “She isn’t.”

“We _could_ tell you that, but we’d be lyin’,” said Shadow.

“We kinda told her she could come back here with us,” said Sunset.

“Girls?” said Fluttershy.

“You really think Princess Twilight would be okay with that?” asked Applejack.

“I can’t think of a reason why she wouldn’t be okay with it,” said Shadow.

“She wasn’t there, was she?” asked Sonic.

“Nope,” said Shadow.

“Um, so sorry to interrupt,” said Fluttershy. “But-”

“Whoa!” said Rainbow, looking at her amulet. “Check out our geodes!” Fluttershy sighed.

“That’s what I was trying to say,” she said exasperated. Then the area they were in started pulsing in the same colors.

“Something’s changed,” said Tails, looking at his hand-held’s readings. “This wasn’t happening before.” Then Sonic snapped his fingers in realization.

“Because before, we didn’t have all eight geodes together in one place,” he said, drawing Caliburn.

“Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Knuckles. Then beams shot out of everybody’s geodes straight into Caliburn’s, flowing to Sonic, making him yell in pain.

“Sonic! Are you okay, bro?” asked Manic.

“Okay? Are you kidding?” asked Sonic, as he smirked and his eyes shot open. “I’ve never felt better!” Then Caliburn’s handle grew more ornate, and his blade grew longer and thicker. Sonic swung the sword in a circle around the hole in the air, causing a rainbow to surround it. Then a large vortex appeared in it.

“I’m going with not a good thing,” said Rarity.

“Wrong-o,” said Sonic. “That’s our exit. Cmon!” He touched the vortex and was knocked back, fried. “Okay, forget what I just said. This is a very bad thing.” Outside, the same thing happened to the mirror, and the rainbow magic flowed up Juniper’s arm, making her grow and transform into a more monstrous version of her movie star reflection. She looked at her reflection in the popcorn machine and smiled.

“Now everyone will recognize I’m a real star!” she said, walking away. Starlight hid as she walked past but she quickly and quietly started following her. Everyone in the mall was terrified at the sight of Juniper and ran for their lives.

“Okay,” said Starlight. “First things first, I need to get that mirror away from her.” Juniper was under the impression that everyone was adoring fans and paparazzi, but they were actually terrified. Starlight hid behind several items as she blew kisses to her “fans”. Then just as her hand was low enough, Starlight zipped in and grabbed the mirror, but Juniper wouldn’t let go. Then Starlight managed a flip-kick, knocking it out of her hand. Then it landed on the ground and cracked, causing giant cracks to appear in the void as well.

“What’s going on?” asked Manic.

“The mirror is breaking,” said Sunset.

“Well, unless Starlight finds a way to get us out, I think we’re gonna be stuck in here forever,” said Sonic.

“Starlight Glimmer, I hope you know what you’re doing,” said Sunset hopefully. Starlight had picked up the mirror but still didn’t know what to do with it.

“Give that back!” growled Juniper. Starlight ran and slid to a stop.

“No,” she said. “This mirror is nothing but trouble. You have to realize that.”

“What I realize is that you are just like those other girls,” said Juniper angrily. “I wish you’d join them.” Starlight was scared she’d be drawn in, so she pointed the mirror away from her, but nothing happened. She let out a breath of relief and kept running from Juniper as she swiped at her.

“Looks like you can’t make that wish unless you’re the one holding the mirror,” said Starlight. She dived to dodge another attack, but a chunk of the mirror broke loose, causing huge holes to appear in the void. Quickly, she dove behind the sunglasses booth and smirked at an idea.

“I wish Sunset Shimmer and her friends would come back!” she said, but the mirror still didn’t work. All she succeeded in doing was knocking more chunks of the mirror loose. Juniper gave a sly chuckle, knowing that unless she was holding the mirror, nothing would happen. Juniper chased her around the stall, but then she grew tired and threw more stalls on either side of her, boxing her in.

“Give it back to me!” she growled.

“But my friends are trapped in there!” said Starlight. And then the team’s music video came on again.

**Deadpool: Wow. That was well-timed.**

**Sonic Prime: Tell me about it.**

“Your ‘friends’ stole my one chance at being famous,” said Juniper. Then she spun around and smashed the TV wall. In the void, it was all but gone as the girls were almost trapped. Twilight nearly fell, but Rarity used her powers to create an orb of gem shields around her, saving her life.

“Is fame really what you’re after?” asked Starlight. “Or are you looking for something else?”

“Like what?!” asked Juniper, ripping the roof off the stall.

“Like… a friend?” asked Starlight. Juniper was confused.

“Who would wanna be my friend?” she asked.

“I would,” said Starlight.

“Why?” asked Juniper.

“Because I understand you, Juniper,” explained Starlight. “You think getting revenge is gonna make you feel better, but it’s not. Please. Don’t make a mistake that you’ll end up regretting for the rest of your life.”

“I’ve already made too many mistakes,” she said, dropping the roof. “What I’ve done is… is unforgivable.”

“No Juniper,” said Starlight. “I know they’ll forgive you. But first, you have to set them free.” Juniper was still angry, but she realized Starlight was right.

“I…” she said unsure, looking back at Starlight. She nodded so she continued with the wish. “I wish I could make up for my mistakes.” Just as the last part of the floor in the void broke, the team was teleported out.

“Uh, what just happened?” asked Sonic.

“Ugh, this is gonna be a special kinda hangover,” said Shadow, as he and Sunset got up and saw Starlight.

“Starlight! You did it!” said Sunset, hugging her. Then people crowded around, giving admiring remarks as to what Starlight just did.

“So much for laying low,” said Starlight.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said Sonic, gesturing to his siblings. “Us and Princess Twilight tried that at first, but it didn’t really work out. She’ll understand.” Juniper looked down at the mirror and saw that only a small shard was left. Then she looked up at the scowling faces of the team.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Hey, it’s okay,” said Shadow. “We’ve all been there.”

“Really?” asked Juniper.

Starlight raised her hand. “Manipulated an entire town into giving up their talents so they wouldn’t think they were special,” she said.

“Overpowered by magic I couldn’t control and created a rift between two worlds, almost destroying both of them in the process,” said Twilight.

“Turned an entire school into a personal zombie army in hopes of conquering a distant pony world,” said Sunset.

"Nearly blew up the planet with a space laser because I thought that's what my oldest friend wanted," said Shadow.

“Does that answer your question?” asked Sonic. Juniper just blinked.

“Wow,” said Pinkie. “We are a _really_ forgiving group.” Everyone just laughed.


	18. Happy Ending

Later, back at Canterlot High, the team was hanging out near the plinth with Juniper.

Starlight looked around smiling and sighed. “I’m so sad to leave,” she said. “I haven’t really had the chance to get to know all of you.” Then Sunset’s journal started ringing. She pulled it out and opened it, to see a message from Princess Twilight.

“Maybe you don’t have to leave yet,” she said and read the message. “‘Dear Sunset, some lessons are better learned in action and you girls are great teachers. Starlight should stay for a few more days! Enjoy the premiere’!” Everyone whooped and cheered.

“Huh,” said Starlight. “Think you can focus on the positive?”

“Whatever happens is gonna happen,” said Sunset.

“And we’ll be ready for it,” said Shadow, playfully punching Starlight’s arm. “We’ve just gotta live in the moment, right?”

“Right,” said Starlight. She punched him back and they all laughed.


End file.
